Review by: dustbunna
This was the second of two blind IB purchases I made in California earlier this year, taking advantage of being quarantined close to K&L Wines, which does a number of store picks of independent bottlings of Scotch. Dailuaine (one of Diageo’s background Speyside workhorses) is a distillery I’ve enjoyed in the past, but I’ve rarely come across bottlings of it in the US, and I’ve only before tried IBs matured in ex-bourbon. This one was fully matured in a sherry butt– likely refill, based on the color– distilled in 2007 and bottled in 2019.
Distillery: Dailuaine.
Bottler: Douglas Laing.
Region: Speyside.
ABV: 57.6%. Cask strength.
Age: 12 years. Distilled in 2007. Bottled in 2019.
Cask type: Refill sherry butt.
Price: $65 USD.
Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Bottle open across approx. 5 months, notes taken leisurely across that period. Bold notes taken beneath the shoulder, regular-formatted notes taken further into the bottle past the halfway point, italicized notes taken towards the heel.
Nose: ripe strawberries, balsamic vinegar, charred marshmallow, struck matches, old oak, cream cheese frosting and cake batter, apple cider, mellows to strawberry cream candy, cut grass, oak takes over but a few drops of water can revive some of the other notes.
Palate: medium body ~ a bit hot on arrival, strawberries transfer and become more jammy, a bit winey, grassiness in the background, more oak, dried apples, leather, several drops of water help regain the creaminess and the strawberries.
Finish: long ~ fresh herbs mingle with more strawberries, some dry tannins, goes even more drying and herbal with time.
Conclusion: This Dailuaine was quite nice throughout. I have never tasted strawberry wine, but the notes I get from this whisky paint a good picture of how I imagine it tasting– strawberry shortcake with oaky tannins and grass. This has a lot going for it as an interesting distillate-forward sherried style, a direction distinct from the intense flavor bombs that, fun as they are, tend to override the character of the distillery. Honestly, I think this was showing its best qualities just off the shoulder, and lost some of that wonderful zesty freshness over time. Usually, adding water at first will give me some idea of where the whisky might go with time– here, interestingly, the reverse was true: I added water after time elapsed, and it regained some of the notes that had been lost. This was still a great store pick, though, good value and engaging enough for me to jump in for K&L’s next 12yr Dailuaine, a first-fill sherry butt from Old Malt Cask.
Final Score: 82.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 